Nuggets coach Brian Shaw needed more time to talk to his team, his coaching staff, and himself. He needed extra time to count to 10 and cool down from what is becoming one nuisance of a season, filled with problems that shouldn’t be problems at all.

But once he finally arrived to his post-game press conference on Wednesday night, after the Nuggets eighth-straight loss, 114-102 to the Philadelphia 76ers, he pointed the finger of blame for all of this squarely at himself.

“It was a terrible performance from our team from basically the second quarter, on,” Shaw said. “As evidenced by the fans and how they greeted us going into halftime with the boos…we deserved every bit of that. When you’re in the midst of a seven-game losing streak and you allow a team to come in on your home floor and play harder than you do, it’s unacceptable. So, I’ve got to do a better job as a coach trying to figure out how to get our team to come out from the jump and play hard and play with the kind of energy and intensity that we need to get us out of this.”

Playing hard has nothing to do with systems or identities or schemes. You either to do it, or you don’t. Right now, the Nuggets fall in the ‘don’t’ category.

“That’s on me,” Shaw said. “I’ve just got to keep on seeking and searching, try and find ways to motivate our team to play harder. It’s hard to coach effort. We can coach a lot of other things, but I still have to continue to try and find the guys who want to get out there and play hard, and I’m going a poor job at that.”

Energetic play is happening in practices, Shaw said. He highlighted Tuesday’s session as an example.

“There were certain times when guys almost came to blows with one another,” Shaw said. “And sometimes that’s good, but you want to see that kind of energy against the other team, not just against your teammates in practice.”

But right now the Nuggets show very little fight against anyone but themselves.

“We have nowhere to go but up from here,” Nuggets forward J.J. Hickson said. “I feel like we have reached rock bottom. But the same way we lost seven, eight in a row we can run off seven, eight in a row.”

And yet putting together a winning streak isn’t going to happen unless Nuggets players sort out their commitment issues.

“What should be universal is just coming out and giving effort,” Shaw said. “Every body is getting a paycheck, including myself. So that means when it’s time to go to work you’ve got to go to work. You give everything you have, you leave it out on the floor. I don’t think that we’re doing that.”

Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com

You have managed to alienate fans in less than half a season. You’ve undone so many of the positives that have taken YEARS to build up.

Count me as one of the fans who is also UNINSPIRED to attend a game. I could care less about the losing – it’s the God-awful effort we have to suffer watching night in and night out.

paguy1955

I would start NOT going to the games myhself but I paid a lot of cash for my tickets and I can’t just throw away money. I AM NOT HAPPY

Fan of teamwork

You write Brian Shaw wants to “… Take time to flush everything out …” I think the best thing Shaw can do is hold his nose and grab the handle and pull twice as it is a long way to Indiania. That is the fastest way to get rid of what stinks in the Nuggets locker room. Until then we will spend out entertainment $ elsewhere and watch teams with more respect for their players.

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.